Phil Jackson: Rodman is the greatest athlete I've ever coached

Phil Jackson sure had plenty to say during a speech to the University of North Dakota as part of the convocation in which he received an honorary degree. Of the course of an hour, P-Jax criticized his school's nickname, told funny stories about Shaq swimming, and picked Dennis Rodman as the greatest athlete he ever coached. From the OC Register: "[Rodman] could probably play a 48-minute game and play the 48th minute stronger than the first minute of the game," Jackson told the crowd at UND. "He was that terrific an athlete." Video "proof," after the jump.

^ Same here. I was fairly young, but I was blessed still & able to understand & appreciate seeing him play for several years with the Bulls. He was a freakish athlete indeed, but more than anything, it was his extreme hustle & intensity that stuck out for me.

I'm still amazed by the fact that he averaged almost 19 rebounds a game two seasons in a row. Today you got players like fat Eddy Curry that don't average as many total rebounds as Dennis did offensive rebounds.

Undersized PF who averaged nearly 20 RPG, and shut downs people that is way taller than him... while guys like Eddie Curry and Andrea Bargnani not even reaching 5 RPG, and their D is worse than Mihm's...

Insane.

Edited by Kwame is in my closet, September 01, 2008 - 07:50 PM.

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